Preparation

Add the warm water and yeast to the bowl of your stand mixer. Let sit for 5 minutes; mixture will become foamy.

Add the flour, kosher salt, brown sugar, and softened butter to the bowl and mix, with the dough hook, for 10 minutes. The dough should be soft and smooth, a little tacky, but not stick to your hands. If too sticky add a little bit more flour.

Lightly oil a large bowl. Turn the dough out into the bowl, roll around to coat in oil, then cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let the dough sit for three hours on your counter, it will more than double in size.

Preheat your oven to 450ºF (230ºC) and position a rack in the top and bottom. Generously oil two baking sheets or cover with parchment paper. Bring 8 cups of water to a boil, then add ½ cup baking soda.

Punch the dough down then divide it into 16 equal pieces (so into quarters, then each quarter into quarters). Roll each piece into an 8” long rope, then cut into 1” long pieces.

Drop the pieces into the boiling water, in batches, and let cook for one minute. Remove using a slotted spoon to the prepared baking sheets, and immediately sprinkle the tops with salt so that it sticks.

When all the pretzels are on the sheets, add the pans to the oven. Bake for 6 minutes, then rotate the pans from top to bottom, back to front, and bake for an additional 6 minutes. The pretzels should be a dark golden brown. Remove the bites to cooling racks to hold. Up to this point can be done up to 1 day ahead of time.

Just before serving, melt the 2 tbsp of butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and simmer over low until the garlic is translucent, not browned, about 3 minutes.

Toss half of the pretzel bites with the garlic butter mixture and crumbled Blue Cheese. Pour into a bowl, and top with additional Blue Cheese.